Friends of Music support the musical happenings of First Congregational Church (Saginaw, MI). Members are music enthusiasts from the congregation and/or community at large -- members are aficionados of the pipe organ, choral music, chamber music, and the like. The church, which dates to 1868, is acoustically superb. The congregation is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and has recognized excellence and eclecticism in its musical offerings since the 1800’s.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Dr. Steven L. Egler, Professor of Organ at Central Michigan University and Artist in Residence of the First Congregational Church in Saginaw, performed a recital at CMU on September 11 to a near capacity audience at the university's Staples Family Recital Hall. The performance received an instantaneous standing ovation by the enthusiastic crowd. Photos of the recital are courtesy of Robert L. Barker. Captions are beneath each image.

FCC member Ken Wuepper, organ curator of Saginaw's Temple Theatre, congratulates Egler on his performance while Jonathan Best, Chair of the Organ Committee of First Congregational Church, awaits the opportunity to speak with the performer.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Nationally recognized composer Robert J. Powell
celebrates his eightieth birthday with the Friends
of Music of Saginaw’s First Congregational Church.He will take part in a musical recital, and the
public is invited on Saturday, October 13, at 5:00 p.m. at the church’s
historic 405 Jefferson Ave. location.This is the first in the series of musical events offered during the
2012-2013 season.The cost of the event
is free, but the suggested donation of $10 will help defray event expenses.

The recital, sponsored as part of a two-day event with
the support of First Congregational Church’s Friends of Music, Trinity Episcopal Church (Bay City), and the
Saginaw Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, will include select works for organ, piano, voice,
and flute.Soprano Rayechel Neiman will
be joined by Toronto flutist Katie Welnetz in the varied musical menu.Nicholas Schmelter will accompany on the
organ and piano.

Robert
J. Powell, who received
a Bachelor of Music Degree in organ and composition from Louisiana State
University and a Master of Sacred Music Degree from Union Theological Seminary
School of Sacred Music in New York, has composed hundreds of pieces for organ,
instrumental ensembles, and choir. Powell has served in many church positions
during his professional career including the Cathedral of St. John the Divine,
New York, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Meridian, Mississippi, St. Paul's
School, Concord, New Hampshire, and Christ Church, Greenville, South
Carolina.

First
Congregational Church is an acoustically superb building, which dates to 1868,
and is located on the corner of Jefferson and Hayden in downtown Saginaw. The
congregation is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and has recognized
excellence and eclecticism in its musical offerings since the 1800’s.

Music and
the performing arts have been a key part of the congregation’s demonstration
and outreach for over one hundred years.The church has offered concerts for the general public welcoming Duke
Ellington and Virgil Fox, high school and college choirs, the Saginaw Choral
Society, the city’s Jazz on Jefferson street festival, the Friends of Music Series of recitals, and several other events.It is the birthplace of The New Reformation
Band.Recently, Michigan’s Ninetieth
Legislature recognized the key role of the congregation in the preservation of
Saginaw’s Cathedral District and in the outreach to the community as a whole:
“The example that the members of this church has provided has touched and
influenced all the people of Saginaw, and is a tangible demonstration that
First Congregational is a church that has not abandoned Saginaw, but rather,
keeps working to improve it.”

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

What organ-related musical memories do you have at First Congregational Church? Nicholas Schmelter is preparing a scrapbook
of these archives and hopes to include archives and first-hand
accounts.Taken
from the congregation's archives, the postcard photo is from Christmas 1966.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

The music ministries of First Congregational Church are planning a euchre
tournament for two-person teams on October 21 at 6:00 p.m.The event will include food, cards, and
prizes. Please contact Nicholas Schmelter or Bryan Cook to communicate your
interest and sign up.

Do you have any memories, stories, or historic
photos of the pipe organs at First Congregational Church?Do you have the recital program from when
Virgil Fox visited our instrument?Nicholas Schmelter is preparing a scrapbook of these archives and hopes to
include archives and first-hand accounts.Taken from the congregation's archives, the first historic photo is from the 1920s. The six visible organ pipes did not sound. Note the divided choir. From the 1970s, the second photo documents the rear balcony, glass windows, and full congregation following the post-fire rebuild of the sanctuary.

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First Congregational Church is one of the finest facilities for music and musical outreach in the region. The sanctuary boasts an organ built by the Ernest M. Skinner Company of Boston (1929) restored and enlarged by Scott Smith Pipe Organs (2014). The chapel houses an unaltered two-manual, nine rank pipe organ, built by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc. (Opus 1327). Among other instruments First Congregational Church houses two Steinway pianos, two harpsichords, six octaves of handbells, and dozens of recorders, percussion instruments, and Orff instruments.